


Somewhere in the Middle

by phanburnhamizzard



Category: Phan, Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), dan and phil
Genre: Gen, M/M, future!danandphil, middleage!danandphil, phanfichallenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 03:18:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15597057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phanburnhamizzard/pseuds/phanburnhamizzard
Summary: Dan and Phil are middle aged and are still together and still happily making videos.  Fluff, Romance, Implied Smut, Humor, Videos, Domestic.This work was done for the Dan and Phil Anti-trope challenge of Phanfichallenge.





	Somewhere in the Middle

“Phil!” Dan yelled down the stairs. “Don’t make me send the drone down there to check on you. Bring yourself up here now so we can start filming!”

Phil Lester, 56 years old, was sneaking a bit of cereal from Dan’s Shredded Wheaties and immediately thrust the box back on the shelf before the drone could catch him in the act. 

“I’m on my way,” Phil shouted as he looked around and grabbed one more handful of cereal before racing up the stairs. 

Dan Howell, 51 years old, was sitting before the hovering computer screen, typing into the projected keyboard on the desk. 

“I’ve just about gotten the script done for my next video. Once we’ve filmed, will you read it?” Dan asked Phil.

“Sure,” Phil replied. “When are you going to film it?”

“Probably tomorrow,” Dan answered. “I just want it to be—“

“Perfect” they said in unison.

“Yeah,” Dan said, laughing. “Perfect. So when this gaming video is over, if you’ll look it over, mate, I’d appreciate it.”  
“You know it, D-slice,” Phil said with a grin.

“Okay,” Dan said, cracking his knuckles, “Are you going to tell me the game before hand, or is this a surprise?”

“It’s a surprise, of course,” Phil replied. 

“Okay then, count me in,” Dan said.

“Three-two-one- Hello Dan and Phil Games Bean Poles!”

“Bean poles? What on earth, uh HI!” 

“And welcome to Dan and Phil Games where today, we listened to your requests and are playing Slender Man 86: String Theory!” 

“And how did you get Bean Poles out of that, Phil?

“String Beans!” Phil said, triumphantly.

Dan rolled his eyes, then began to cackle. “Phil Lester, your brain is so weird!”

Phil smiled.

 

“So please wink twice to subscribe to our channel!” Dan said, “And be notified immediately when we upload our next gaming video!”

“Goooood bye!” Phil said, covering the hovering lens with his hands. 

They paused for about three seconds, then Phil removed his hands and Dan reached over to the projected keyboard and hit “End” and the recording program stopped. 

“I think that was a pretty good one,” Dan said. 

“Yeah, but you didn’t fall off your Ergo-ball this time. They’ll be so sad!”

“They’ll be alright!” Dan laughed.   
“So, what is your script about?”

“Let me get something to drink first,” Dan said, standing up and activating the drone. “Do you want anything?”

“Yeah, I’ll have some Ribena, please,” Phil answered.

Within two minutes, the drone was hovering between them, holding their drinks. 

“Ahh, that’s delicious,” Dan said after gulping down half the glass. “I didn’t realize how dehydrated I was.”

“You forgot to charge your smartwatch last night, didn’t you?” Phil said, sipping his own drink and checking his biosensor, which was still in the green.

“Yeah, I’m always forgetting to dock it. Anyway, the script is about Ageism in the Phandom.”

“Ooo,” Phil said, “That’s a heavy topic!”

“Yeah,” Dan said, “But I’m tired of reading how our younger fans are being harassed by the older ones for not having been around as long and not knowing the ins and outs of every inside joke.”  
“It is a problem,” Phil agreed. 

“And it’s one that’s reversed as time has gone on. Remember when it was the younger fans who teased the older ones?”

“Yeah,” Phil said. “You know, it may be the same people, Dan. They weren’t inclusive then and they aren’t inclusive now.”

“Exactly!” Dan exclaimed. “It’s the same way of thinking, and it is polarizing and excluding really nice people!”

“Let me read it,” Phil said, tapping his glasses and the floating monitor at the same time to transfer the data to his e-reading lenses. 

After five minutes, Phil said, “I really liked it. How are you going to approach filming?”

“I’m not sure,” Dan said, “I need to sleep on that. I was thinking having the lens beneath me to show age, and above me to show youth—“

“Ah, like ‘Citizen Kane’”, Phil interjected.

“—yeah,” Dan replied, “but I’m not sure if that’s offensive or not.”

“I’d think not,” Phil replied. “Best to sleep on it, though, to be sure.”

“Definitely,” Dan said. 

Phil stood up and stretched. “I guess I’ll start editing the video then,” he said. 

“Alright, let me know when you need me. I’ll be cooking dinner,” Dan said, standing up and heading for the door. 

 

An hour later, Phil got a text:

“Get ass down here. Dinner is served.”

“One sec, editing.”

“No secs, come to me, bitch.”

“K”

 

Phil came down the stairs to find Dan setting the table with a lovely scented candle in the center. 

“Nice! What kind is it?” Phil asked.

“Warm vanilla sugar,” Dan replied. 

“And what’s for dinner, Sir?”

“Well, Philip, tonight, we have a shrimp stir-fry with a side salad with vinaigrette dressing and a red wine from 2018.”

“Ooo, that was a good year!” Phil said, rubbing his hands together.

They sat across from each other and dug in to the meal, Phil in the blue chair and Dan in the grey. Some things never changed, and their color preferences certainly had not. 

“This is delicious, Dan. Thank you!” Phil said. 

“You’re welcome,” Dan replied. “How is the editing coming? Did it turn out okay?”

“It’s going well. I’m nearly done,” Phil said, taking a bite full from his fork, “it’s pretty funny. The bants are on point.”“Good. It felt right,” Dan said. 

“Yeah, we were in the groove,” Phil giggled, nearly choking on his salad

“Careful, you goofball,” Dan said, “if you die now, I’ll have to finish the editing and I don’t feel like doing that tonight!”

Phil giggled, “If I die, the editing is all you’ll be worried about?”

“Well, that and how to explain that how you killed yourself inhaling a tomato,” Dan grinned. 

“That would be an awkward thumbnail!” Phil agreed.

“It would just be me and an evil tomato JPEG sitting atop your tombstone,” Dan laughed.

“I’d watch that,” Phil said, smiling. 

 

Later that evening, they sat on the sofa and played some classic Mario Kart. Dan handily won the first six rounds, but Phil took the next four. Dan said he was cheating by using a bot, and Phil admitted that he was by using a bot, but it wasn’t really cheating because he had programmed it. 

“Fine,” Dan said, throwing the controller, but it is six:four so I still won, Cheating Lester!”

“Fine!” Phil said, throwing his controller softly at Dan. 

“Hey, don’t dent my ring!” Dan said, twisting his wedding band to check for scratches. 

“You can’t dent meteor covered gold, Dan.”

“But you can scratch it!” Dan whined. 

“Is it scratched?”

“No,” Dan said.

Phil laughed, “You sound disappointed. You want another one, don’t you?”

“NO! Unlike you, I still have my original and don’t NEED another one every two years because I’ve lost mine!” Dan teased.

“It’s not every two years! This is only my third one!” Phil said, grinning.

They both laughed. 

“TIme for bed, Sonny Jim,” Phil said as he stood up from the sofa and stretched.

“Alright “Dad”” Dan said sarcastically.

“You can stay up and watch tele if you want, but you’ll be sorry when we have to meet up with P.J. and Sophie for breakfast tomorrow!”

“I know. I’m coming, I’m coming. Did you wrap his gift?”

“You said you wanted to wrap it because I do a bad job,” Phil said.

“You DO do a bad job. I’ll wrap it now and then I’ll be up.”

Phil grinned, leaned over, and kissed Dan on the forehead. 

Dan tilted his chin up and kissed Phil back on the lips. 

Phil felt a deep ache forming in his abdomen.

“Wrap it in the morning, Dan,” Phil said breathily after breaking the kiss. 

“Alright,” Dan said, allowing Phil to pull him off the sofa and towards the stairs. 

The windows that filled the room from floor to ceiling automatically changed from transparent to opaque as they left the room, leaving the tele to display the results of their game in the darkness:

Bear: 6

Phily: 4. 

Rematch?


End file.
